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“Hudson, I—”
A huge boom from outside pitched the room into utter blackness, and I jolted in surprise. Shouts rang out, and as the seconds passed and darkness remained, flashlights from cell phones began to illuminate the space.
Well. It’d been bound to happen.
“Did you finish everything, or should we hunt down some to-go boxes?” Hudson asked.
I rubbed my full stomach, completely satiated but also feeling like maybe I’d overdone it. Strike that, I’d definitely overdone it. “No boxes. I think I ate too much.”
“Really,” he deadpanned. “You think.”
“I panicked, what can I say? I get dramatic and stupid when I freak out.”
“Explains so much,” he said, and with a nearby cell phone flashing, I could see the outline of him pulling a few bills from his wallet.
Cash was probably a smart idea right about now. I hoped the waitress didn’t have anything against wet twenties. I peeled off enough to cover double what we’d had, and then we slowly made our way through the room at a snail’s pace. Even that wasn’t enough to stop us from running into tables, but eventually we made it to the register. After handing over our wad of bills, we walked out of the diner and into nothing but darkness. No cell phone flashlights, no backup generator, nothing but the tiniest sliver along the floor some distance away that maybe,maybewas coming from the lobby.
And if it wasn’t? We were screwed.
12
HUDSON
“OW. I CAN’T see shit.” The tips of Drew’s fingers brushed against my back as he followed me up the pitch-black staircase. It was disorienting not being able to see anything, but I kept my hand on the rail and took cautious steps.
“Hold on, I think this is the landing.” I tapped on the space in front of me with my foot and tentatively stepped up.
“This would be easier with a flashlight.”
“You’ve said that five times already.”
“It’s been true all five times,” Drew grumbled. “See, this is why peopleshouldbe addicted to their phones. Because without them, bad things happen.”
“Then next time don’t forget your shit.”
“Hey, you noticed I grabbed my wallet, but you couldn’t remind me to grab my phone?”
“Maybesomeonewas about to walk out the door without shoes on. What are you, five?”
“You know what, smartass? I have half a mind to take this flip-flop off and beat you with it.”
I snorted. “At least part of that statement is true. Half a mind.” There was no venom behind my words anymore, though. Whatever harsh tension there had been at the diner had seemed to deflate, and now all that mattered was making it to our room in one piece. One grumbling-and-annoyed piece, but that was due to the circumstances. Hey, we were even helping each otherupthe stairs rather than pushing each other down them.
“Oh wait, here it is,” I said as my hand hit the cold, smooth steel of a doorknob. I twisted it open and walked…into more blackness. Shit, now which way did we go?
“Maybe we should just try every door on one side first,” Drew said by my ear. I didn’t miss the way he had hooked one of his fingers into the waistband of my pants so he didn’t lose me.
It’s called staying close for survival. Nothing more.
I reached into my pocket for my key card, and as I moved slowly down the hall, I kept one hand on the wall. Wait…
“Will this thing even work if the power’s out?” It hadn’t even occurred to me before now, but if I had to go back downstairs for an actual key at this point, I was just going to sleep in the damn hall.
“Um. It should be battery powered, right?”
My fingers grazed the outline of a door, and I felt along it for the security pad. “I guess we’ll find out.”
I ran the card over the pad, and a light blinked red.
